Complication!

By Kyle Dinwiddie, PRC-Saltillo Blogge

It has been over four months since I had spinal surgery removing a disc that was pressing on my spinal cord.  Thankfully the surgery gave me my old life back again.  But the doctor wanted me to come back and have another MRI to check the healing.  Those four months slipped through my hands just like this crazy year has passed. 

When you have an MRI, you cannot eat or drink for 12 hours before the test. So without anything on my stomach, my dad and I headed to St. Louis very early in the morning.  Finally we were at the hospital. They checked me in and weighed me.  Then they told me to get dressed for the MRI.  I shouldn’t say “dress” for the MRI.  They want you to strip down to your tighty whities and they graciously give you a gown that feels like it was made from paper.

I lay down on the cart, anxious about the IV needle. I have very good veins; I thought so anyway! It turns out that if you don’t drink much, your veins will shrink.  And that was exactly what happened.  I got poked and prodded by the nurse. It took a while, but finally the IV worked.  I waved Good-bye to my dad, and they rolled me down the hallway and into the MRI room. They pulled me onto another table and discovered that the IV wasn’t working. For a really long time, they discussed where to put another IV on me.  One thought about putting it in one of my feet, and in my sheer horror, she won the debate! I have the most tender feet in the whole world.  I get blisters just walking around the house. I didn’t yell with the first 5 sticks, but for this one in my foot, I screamed. I think the nurses felt sorry for me because after I yelled out, they kept saying sorry.

The one in my foot worked perfectly. The feeling of icy cold liquid going in my foot wasn’t very comforting.  A nurse lifted me up and put me on the MRI table.  Another nurse put the anesthesia in my IV.  I got really sleepy, but I didn’t fall asleep. The anesthesia didn’t work! Surprised, the nurse gave me some more in my foot and then I fell asleep. As soon as I dipped into a deep slumber, I awoke with a nurse that was looking at me. She asked me if I wanted my parents. I nodded.  She asked if I wanted to watch some TV.  I also nodded.  She turned on the sports channel for me and walked off.

It didn’t take long for my dad to come. I told my dad about my whole adventure that ended with me having an IV in my foot. After that, they pulled the IV out, and gave my clothes back. My dad and I went back to the surgeon’s office where the doctor told me that my neck was healing very well! My dad pulled up my “In the Dark” blog for the doctor. He chuckled a little, but kept saying,”I’m sorry”.  He quickly read it all and read the end out loud with a smile on his face.

Then we made the long journey home.  As this year gets closer to the end, I remember the goals that I had hoped to accomplish in 2019.  Sadly the year did NOT go the way I had hoped.  The whole summer was spent in the hospital.  But I am thankful the surgery was a success and for many other things. I am looking forward to the future again

Sometimes the year doesn’t go the way that you wanted.  You make all of these to do lists, but many times you can’t cross anything off. But don’t give up! Keep wishing and dreaming. There is always 2020! This is Life with Kyle and I will talk to you next week.

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 Life with Kyle   -    AAC, hospital, MRI, surgery, IV, complication, goals

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